


Why'd You Leave Me?

by doodlemeimpressed



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Disabled Character, Dorks in Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, don't cry over spilled milk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 12:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15751926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doodlemeimpressed/pseuds/doodlemeimpressed
Summary: Erik visits Charles at the hospital a few days after the events in Cuba





	Why'd You Leave Me?

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this seems rushed it was more self-indulgent writing than anything "good"  
> Fox give us Cherik pl ease

Deep down a part of Erik always knew he'd end up here, running back to Charles like he always did, only to inevitably fall back into arguments. After the incident in Cuba a steady guilt had haunted Erik no matter how much he tried to ignore it or push it away. It was an accident, he knew this, but leaving Charles on that beach wasn't. Leaving him shot and alone on a beach after taking his sister away, that wasn't an accident. Erik made that bed and he'd lied in it.

They say growth is about accepting your past mistakes as a part of you and then letting them go, learning from them and moving on, maybe that's what he was trying to do now. Accept that he made a mistake.

Erik could feel Charles pushing at the edge of his mind, the metal-bender lingering a few doors down from his hospital room perhaps in an attempt to warn the telepath of his existence. _Warn_ , because that's what he had to do, he was after all, a threat.

Erik stroad forward with purpose, only to stiffen at his own knocking. The door his 'old friend’ was in front of him, and Erik was, for what felt like the first time in a long time, entirely alone.

After hearing a hum Erik cautiously opened the door, tensing at the, albeit slow, meeting of their eyes.

The whiteness of the room was enough to make anyone feel dizzy, though he wasn't the one adorned in white sheets laying ever so still in a bed.

“Hello Erik,”

“Charles,” the name felt like sandpaper against Erik's throat, he was nervous even though Charles showed no sign of hostility.

“I felt you enter the building, you lingered before entering, why?”

Erik let out a sigh of relief, unclenching his fists at the way Charles acted like the other man wasn't the reason he was hospitalized. The metal-bender would've been lying if he said he didn't miss the telepath’s voice and the way he asked questions, Erik had missed his friend so much the man almost forgot what he sounded like.

“I wanted you to have time to know I was there.” _To warn you._

“You're not a monster, and I'm not an infant, you don't need to warn me” there was a twinge of venom but it didn't upset Erik, after all, it was the least he deserved.

As Erik spoke he watched Charles push himself up and then back, struggling to straightening his back against the wall to sit up straight “aren't I though?” Erik spoke slowly, “Look what I did to you. I wouldn't judge you if you feared or even hated me”

Charles let out a huff at the failure to move, “I dont- I don't hate you, Erik.” _I never could._ Erik instinctively opted to approach the telepath as he watched him struggle to do something as basic as sit up, only to feel his mind be pushed away by-- _oh_.

Erik breathed sharply, his hands curling back to fists at his side, “but you _do_ fear me.”

Charles closed his eyes seemingly collecting himself, or scolding himself for letting his emotions slip.

“Do you know what happened after you left?” The telepath asked, colder than Erik thought possible from the man. He figured it best not to answer, after all a _'no’_ wouldn't be very satisfying.

“The bullet hit my spine, Erik…” Charles spoke with indignation, almost annoyed he had to explain it.

“You…” Erik found himself at a loss for words suddenly, trying to mentally grab into anything he could.

_“I can't walk.”_

No words really seemed appropriate to speak at the revelation Erik was having. _I didn't know._ His hands instinctively opened and closed.

“How could you? You weren't there.”

“I'm so sorry.”

“Don't apologise, I know it was just an accident. you made a mistake, it's okay.”

Erik wanted to punch Charles at the way the younger man’s voice seemed to shake, he couldn't tell if he was scared or trying not to cry, why the hell was he getting emotional over protecting Erik from himself

“I shouldn't have left”

“No,” Charles spoke dryly, grabbing Erik's eyes with his and holding them “you shouldn't have, but you did and we can't change the past, only learn from it, let go and move on”

“You should hate me,” Erik felt a rage heat inside the pit of his stomach “I don't deserve your apology, this is my fault i-”

“Quit wallowing in your own self-pity,” Charles spoke suddenly, all but hollering across the small room, “you don't get to do that, you don't get to feel sorry for yourself and beat yourself up over it. That's not your right anymore, you lost that privilege when you made the choice to leave me on that beach and take my sister with you.”

Erik could've sworn he saw tears.

“But I've accepted what happened and I'm trying to make the best of it, it's not bloody easy either,” _try not using your legs and being confined to a room the size of a closet_ “suck up your pride, because I'm the one who should be hurt here and not you, you're not paralyzed, your sister and the man you- your best friend didn't leave you to die for all they know, so accept that you made a mistake and move on because I did.”

Accept your mistake, let it go, and move on.

Erik didn't speak for a bit, his gaze looking down at his feet when he finally spoke

“You're right, I shouldn't have left you on that beach, I shouldn't have taken your sister away from you. You didn't deserve to be punished for my mistakes.”

_It's in the past_

He looked up at Charles, feeling the words in his mind and feeling wave of welcoming projected to him at once.

_It is...but I promise I'll find a way to make it up to you If I ever can_

Erik walked up to Charles, quickly grabbing the reclining man by the shoulders and leaning down to put their foreheads together.

“I'm sorry that I wasted so much time being angry and- and being…”

Charles looked up at Erik through his own eyelashes, the metal-bender looked almost at peace with his shut eyes, save for the reddening face and misty eyes.

_You?_

Erik laughed, genuinely and fully, his own forehead rocking against Charle’s to the rhythm of his moving body, “for wasting so much time being me, yes,” he pulled back for a moment cupping the telepath's face, “I'm sorry for taking this from us--from you”

“ _T_ _his_?” Charles inquired, his voice still slightly hoarse from the yelling.

 _Us._ Erik thought, _Our spending time together, our talking. This._

Erik realized what had come over him, albeit too late, as by the time he did, he was already kissing Charles. The telepath grabbed Erik's wrist, attempting to hoist himself up, but after noticing this Erik simply lowered himself to Charle's level, sitting down next to reclined man’s leg.

Deep down they both knew they felt this way, though they never acted on it. Perhaps it was the illusion of time they didn't have on their side that made them prolong it, or perhaps they were just too unsure.

Charles pulled back first

“I didn't realize _this_ was what you were referring to,” _not that I'm complaining, it's well overdue in my opinion_

Erik couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped him, “what did you have in mind?”

“Would you believe me if I said 'chess’?” Charles replied and smiled bashfully.

Erik leaned forward planting a kiss on the other man's temple.

 

_Oh how I missed you Charles._

 

_I missed you too._


End file.
